Greenhouse roof bar cleaning brush



GREENHOUSE ROOF BAR CLEANING BRUSH Filed July 21, 1944 2 shets-seet 1 @lL-:2 C I I I Enr- I U INVENTOR; ZMLUJCQT This; intention' fait@ .for cleaning greenhouse roofbars, and has for designed'rto aicrdA a practical and successful Fig. 2 isla side elevation of the construction; yFig; 3 is a bottom plan View;

Patented Oct. 1*, 1946 'STATES GRnENHoUsE EANING z' `l Richard @HangairporeN.yggassignoto i B.`Hart, Inc.; R

'NewYork' Application July 21, 1944;

4 Claims.

1 Y sv toy a'- brush mechanism itsfpurpose to aftor'da'simple, economical, and eiioient structure than can be manipulated read# Yily without'necessitatingfthe workman getting on the roof, y Y In cleaning the barsof greenhouse roofs preparatory to painting them, considerable time i-s required fora workman to do this while on a roof, and it is desirable tok provide brush mechanism that vcan be operatedvfrom one side of the 'roof while standing on Vthe ground and mov- ,ing` the brush mechanism back and forth along vor crawl over Ythe roof itself. .f v ,A further .purpose of the invention is to afford v`ajstructure that can be produced at alminimum cost, and which can be easily manipulated with little eiort across the eXpanseo-f a greenhouse' .Still `another object of the invention is to afford an arrangement permitting the brushes to be readily adjusted in order tocontact effectively vthe top and side exposed surfacesof the bar for 'cleaning it thoroughly to remove all ydirt or loose material andp'repare vthe Surfaces for painting.

' VTo these.`,and 'other ends, the invention con- "constructionfandarrangement of parts that will AappearT clearly from .the followsists in t ingfdescrption when read. in conjunction with 'the-accompanying drawings.' the novel features l,being.pointed out in thev claims following the s`pecicati'on.1HV

y In the drawings; Y

Fig. lris` a plan View .showing a preferred embodimentof the invention in operating position;

theweightedsupport whichniay berof cast iron or' therwisesuitably constructed; and suiciently Aheavy to impose the necessary pressure for holding thebrushes down upon. a bar and Ain close contacttherewith when the mechanism is moved 'thereaiongtue support beingiprovided winne transveselyV concave bottom surface 2 upon which. the brushes are mounted in a manner that ochcsterdlgY.,V a corporation.' of

eral No.` 546,005 .I

will appear presently. 3 designates the top surface 'of theweighted support I, and 4 designate its side Walls to which are pivotallyjconneoted the Vlinks Siwhichmay constitute handle-attach- 5 ing means for pivotally-supportng a suitable elo gated handle to beheld and manipulated bac-kA and forth by the operator. e In forder to guide the brush mechanism properly-along abar, guiding shoes are provided for engagement with the bar, preferably, at 4both .ends of the-brushes and support, and to accomplish this therei-.ig provided a rod 6 which IeX- tends longitudinally along the bottom offthe supporti 4 at-its central portion and is fxedly at- -tached-thereto inr any desirable manner as by means of attaching :bolts 1 The rodis providedfat the opposite endsof `the support l with downward and out'wa-rd extensionsy 8 which. terminate in hcrizontalportio-ns 9 vupon which are mounted -orlgprovided the bar-engaging guiding shoes I0.D v

The guiding shoes lil are preferably. of U- .shaped cross-section yto t over and engage a `bar Vwhile it is beingcleanedfand they .are {welded or otherwise forrneolonthe horizontal portions at the ends of the rod t, being located vin such relation tothe brushes as to engage the bar .when the'brushes` are in proper contact therewith, and trg-'maintain thebru'sh mechanism .in cin'rectA lrelation fto the bar as the operovesj'tliefdevicelloacli and forthalong Ya hebrusles areattachedto the under concavesurfacefof thesupport l any suitable way positioned for engagement .with the upper .and sidefeig'posedsuriaces ofa bar, andy are preferk.ably arranged uadjuStably in a manner that will now be described. v

.l Rigidlyattached 4.to the conc-ave under side of the support laretransversely extending curved .40cros5rames H, one preferably located at each ,end .lof-.thesuppornV and attached by welding' to .thel'longit'udinal rod S or yin any other sui-table fashion..4 Eachof the cross frames il includes Ianupwardlyextendingflange l2 at its outer end and Aflanges orA walls i3 spaced from the lend iianges -I"12 ..andV affording pockets within which dare .loc-ated'th'e outer .longitudinally Xteidng lbru's'hesfllj vthat are frictionally; held liii said pocketsfand adjustable away from the support l ,inl a manner that, will appear presently. i5 designates a central brush extending vlongitudinally Vof the support l overthe rod Gand permanently attached thereto and to the support while the ,brushes lll extend-,parallel .to thecentralbrush "I5' andare vangula'rly disposed; as shown'A in'Fig.

5, so that while the central brush I engages the top surface of a bar being cleaned, the outer brushes I4 engage the c-orners and side surfaces of the bar and effectively contact every exposed portion of the latter.

The outer brushes I4k are preferably adjustable away from the support to enable moving them into effective cooperative relationship with the bar, and this is accomplished by adjusting screws I6 which engage threaded openings in the cross frames II, while II designate nuts threaded on the screws I6 and located between the support I and the frames II to enable securing the adjusting screws in any position. The lower end of each screw I6 engages the upper side of a brush I4 while the screw projects through a rehandle, and handle-attaching means secured to cess I8 in the support I to a point at one side of the support where the head I9 of the adjusting screw is accessible to enable turningthe latter and thereby moving the brush relatively to the support to any desired position.

Each outer brush I4 is frictionally held in the cross frames which it occupies, and is helddown when in operation against the lower end of the adjusting screw I6 which limits upward movement of the brush in its pocket on the cross frame. The two outer brushes I4 extend between the two cross frames II and are thusfmanually adjustable to contact the bar uniformly on opposite sides, the brushes being vof conventional structure and provided with metal wires or other suitable cleaning instrumentalities.

By means-of the guiding shoes I0 already described, the brushes are held in proper longitudinal relationship to a bar, and it is also4 desirable to maintain the support and brushes in a substantially uniform horizontal relationship, 'I'his is accomplished by means of a wheeled frame, the wheels of which engage the surface of the glass or other roof adjacent to the bar being cleaned. To this end there is provided a wheeled frame including a transverse rod 2U attached in any suitable fashion and including downwardly extending portions 2I terminating in the horizontal extremities 22 on which are mounted the roofengaging wheels 23 located below the guiding shoes II) and brushes and adapted to engage the surface of the glass roof on opposite sides of a bar and thus to maintain the cleaning brushes.

in proper horizontal relationship. The rod'20 of the wheeled frame may be attached toV one of the downwardly extending portions 8 ofthe longitudinal rod 6 and secured thereto by a clamping plate 24 held in place by attaching bolts 25,

With the structure described, the brushes are held against a bar by the weight of the support and engage the top and side exposed surfaces of the bar uniformly, owing to the engagement of wheels 23 with the surface of the roof, and as the operator by means of a connected handle moves the brush mechanism backvand forth, the guiding shoes I0 engage and travel along the bar at points beyond both ends of the brushes, so that correct movement of the brush mechanism longitudinally of the bar is insured.

, While the invention has been described with reference to the particular arrangement shown, it is not restricted to the details herein disclosed, and this application is intended to cover such modifications and departures as may come within the purposes of the invention and the scope of Vthe following claims.

I claim:

l. Brush mechanism for cleaning lVgreenl'iouse said support. e

A2. Brush mechanism for cleaning bars of greenhouse roofs comprising a weighted support having a transversely concave bottom surface, a rod extending longitudinally of the bottom of the support and attached thereto, said rod terminating in bar-engaging guiding shoes located beyond the ends of the brushes, curved brush-supporting cross frames extending transversely of the support beneath said rod and` attached to said rod, a central brush xedly attached to the support, flanges extending downwardly from said cross-frames affording pockets at the ends of the cross frames, outer brushes positioned in said pockets and disposed angularly to the central brush, adjusting means cooperating with said cross frames and engageable with said outer brushes, said adjusting means extending laterally beyond the support and accessible from the sides thereof, a wheel-supporting frame attached to said rod between the ends of the brushes andthe adjacent guiding shoe, roof-engaging wheels mounted on said frame, a handle, and handleattaching means secured to the support.

3. Brush mechanismfor cleaning bars of greenhouse roofs comprising a horizontal weighted support having a transversely concave bottom surface, curved brush-supporting cross frames extending transversely of said concave bottom surface and secured thereto, a central brush fixedly attached to said frames, flanges extending downwardly from said cross frames affording pockets at the ends of the cross frames, outer brushes positioned in said pockets and disposed angularly to the central brush, adjusting means cooperating `with said frames and engageable with the outer brushes, saidv adjusting means extending"A laterally beyond` the' support and accessible from the sides thereof, a handle, and handle-attaching means secured to thevr support.

4. Brush Vmechanism for cleaning barsV of greenhouse roofs comprising a horizontal weighted support having a transversely concave bottom surface, a rod extending longitudinally of said concave bottom surface at its center and attached thereto, said rod terminating in bar-engaging guiding shoes located beyond the ends of vthe brushes, curved brush-supporting cross frames extending transversely of said concave bottom surface of the support beneath said rod and attached to said rod, a central brush fxedly attached to the support, flanges extending downwardly from said cross frames affording pockets at the ends of the cross frames, outer brushes positioned in said pockets and disposed angularly to .the central brush, adjusting means cooperating with said cross frames and engageable with said outer brushes, said adjusting means extending laterally beyond the support and accessible from the sides thereof, a handle, and handle-attaching means secured to the support,

` RICHARD C. HART. 

